VENICE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GAY PRIZE

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GAY PRIZE

The prestigious Venice Film Festival is celebrating movies with a homosexual theme or character by awarding a Queer Lion prize. The new honour, a take on the festival's main Golden Lion prize, is the culmination of four years of negotiations to introduce a gay element to the annual event. Competition director Daniel Casagrande says, "We aren't looking for the next Brokeback Mountain. We are just looking for films that accurately portray gay characters or themes." A small international jury will select the winner, who will be presented with a gold plaque featuring the Venice Lion winged logo with the rainbow colours of the gay pride flag on the wings. The Venice Festival, which begins later this month (29Aug07) isn't the first movie event to celebrate homosexual film work - the Berlin International Film Festival has been handing out a similar prize, the Teddy Award, for 21 years as an offshoot of its Golden Bear award.